JAPANESE CHEESECAKE

• 250 g cream cheese
• 50 g unsalted butter
• 100 ml fresh milk
• 6 egg yolks
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 60 g cake flour
• 20 g cornstarch
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 6 egg whites
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
• 140 g granulated sugar

Special Equipment: 1 8-inch x 3-inch round cake tin; 1 larger 9 or 10-inch round cake tin for the water bath.

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325F.  Melt the cream cheese, butter and milk over medium heat in a saucepan, stirring occasionally. Remove mixture from heat and pour into another bowl. Mix in the egg yolks, lemon juice, vanilla and combine well. Sift in the dry ingredients; folding in the flour, the cornstarch and salt (see below for a video on how to combine the ingredients.
2. In a stand mixer, whisk egg whites with cream of tartar until foamy. Slowly add in the sugar and whisk until soft peaks form, approximately 6-8 minutes (speed 8 on Kitchenaid)
3. Take 1/3 meringue and fold into the cheese mixture, then fold in another 1/3 of meringue. After incorporated, pour the batter back to the remaining 1/3 meringue and FOLD GENTLY.  Use an 8 inch diameter by 3 inch tall cake tin lined with parchment paper (line with a circle on the bottom and a strip along the sides, ensuring that the parchment strip extends well above the rim of the cake tin.) Pour the batter into the lined cake tin. 
4. Create a bain marie (water bath). Place the filled cake tin into a 9 or 10 inch diameter cake tin lined with a small kitchen towel to ensure that the bottom bakes evenly. Fill the outer tin with hot water so that the cheesecake rests inside a water bath. Bake cheesecake on lower 1/3 of oven in the water bath for 1 hours 10 minutes or until set and golden brown at 160 degrees C (325 degrees F). Turn off oven and leave door ajar so the cake can cool inside for one hour.
5. Remove cheesecake from the oven; remove from the bain marie and allow to cool on a wire rack. Using your hands, gently turn the cheesecake upside down allowing the top of the cheesecake to rest onto an open hand. Gently peel the parchment paper from the cake and set right side up on a cooling rack. Optional: sift powdered sugar and matcha onto the surface of the cheesecake. Refrigerate if desired; or serve warm with whipped cream and fruit

I made a matcha flavoured Japanese cheesecake too! 

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Kishimoto Japanese Kitchen and Sushi Bar, Vancouver

Carrot butterflies atop my wasabi. Details are so important

You think all I do is eat out, eh? well, it certainly seems that way these last couple of days.  We had lunch, creme brulee and coffee in the Strathcona area and now we were back on The Drive for dinner. Our plan was to eat at La Mezcaleria.  Our friend tried to get reservations by phone but was told parties under 6 couldn't have reservations. When we arrived at 5:25pm at the restaurant, there was no lineup but the restaurant was full with 2 tables (of 4) receiving their bills and one table readying to leave and the hostess asked us how many people there were in our party and asked if we had a reservation.  Like what? how is this consistent? We are a party of 5 and you said we couldn't book a reservation on the phone and then when we arrived, you seemed to imply we could have gotten a reservation?  And then told us to wait not 15-30 minutes like normal restos but 90? That is so dumb.

Furthermore, she said we were 2nd on the list.  By the time I asked her to cross my name off the wait list of 2, the two tables were empty and one table was about to leave.  I repeated: is it still a 1 1/2 hour wait?  Yes she replied without scanning the room.  No smiles, no welcoming friendly attitude, not apologetic, mixed messages concerning the reservations policy and you're a HOSTESS! That was over the top. I don't care how great you're purported to be or how delicious your enticing hot stone bowls and their oozy melted Mexican cheese fondue are and how much I love your sister restaurant La Taqueria.  If you're going to give me such a friggin' confusing message about taking reservations then forget it. Not coming back.  Ever.  My old 'hood has gone all trendy and gentrified my a$$ out of there.   Such arbitrary snobbery is so short-sighted.  They obviously don't need my business.  Like when did this happen that we get such attitude from the service industry on the East side?  I get more respect as a customer on the Westside for gawdsake.  So on we walked.  Fortunately for us, our friend recommended Kishimoto a few blocks away.  It was his birthday and heck he should get whatever he wants for dinner.  We got there in time and only waited a few minutes for a table and all was well.  And the service here was welcoming and friendly...and the food rocked.

Salmon Oshisushi: a signature dish that you have to try first to gauge all other oshisushi.  This was very good.

We were lucky that our Japanese friend knew what to order.  He recommended the Salmon Oshisushi because it was the sushi chef's take on a famous dish and his version was purported to be very good.  Oshisushi is pressed sushi rice topped with seared fish and toppings.  The Salmon was topped with a mayonnaise based sauce and a jalapeno pepper.  It was indeed very delicious.  The flavours were at once smoky, creamy and spicy and the salmon rang through well.

Spicy Tuna Oishisushi

My Japanese friend told me that the chef was the same one who opened up the original Zipang on Main street but had moved on to this restaurant a while ago.  I knew that he had moved but didn't realize he was at Kishimoto.  Now that I saw his signature daikon votive lanterns on his sushi platters it all made sense.

Daikon pinwheel flower decorations on my plate. Everything is edible.

I decided to order a different oshisushi dish.  I tried the spicy tuna.  It was good; but I think the salmon was a better dish and I enjoyed it better.  I am glad I sampled the salmon before I had the tuna.

The pink liquid is Gatorade with shredded daikon.  

Upon presenting us the oshisushi, the waitress took the time to point out that all the elements on the platter were edible (except of course for the votive candle inside the thinly sliced daikon shade. haha.)

Presentation is everything here. 

My Spicy tuna oshisushi was good but I don't think I'd order it again having tried the salmon one. The spicy tuna was yummy and it sat atop crispy rice.  I think the pressed rice roll was deep fried for textural contrast.  So it was chewy and crunchy and smoky.  I didn't like the chewy element of the dish.  However I know many people who love the crunchy burnt rice from stone bowls and this would be similar.

Though the pink Gatorade looks pretty and is edible, I tried it. bleh. infused with a daikon flavour from the shredded fresh daikon.  I would have liked a sweet koolaid because that was what I was expecting from the colour. lol

The daikon lantern is so cute

The waitress was quite apologetic about the late arrival of our oshisushi orders.  She came back to tell us our dishes were coming up soon.  We hadn't actually asked but it was very nice to have her check up on this for us a few times.  As it was it wasn't too painful a wait and when the sushi platters arrived I saw why they took more time.  There was much time spent on the details of presentation. wow.  I was blown away by all the stuff going on up at the top and when I started to eat after all those aerial shots (yah, I wait to eat so I can take pics for you!) I realized I had not even noticed the things going on down on the bottom.  There were absolutely adorable thinly sliced carrots cut into the shape of butterflies.  I had two little mounds of wasabi on opposite corners of my platter and each had a butterfly perched atop it.  I felt so special.   The kids insisted on eating all the edamame beans from the daikon flowers and they even took my lotus chip.  This is what happens when you love your kids.  You give them all the frilly good stuff.

There are so many elements on the plate that I had to take it all in slowly. 

I ordered a negitoro roll too because for every new Japanese restaurant I try, I try to order a benchmark dish so I can compare/contrast quality.  For me, some of those Japanese dishes might include: assorted tempura,  spinach gomae, negitoro roll and a specialty roll of some sort. Stomach's benchmark staples are salmon and tuna nigiri and assorted sashimi and the kiddies order california rolls, chicken karaage and udon noodle soup. With our whole family we figure we have most bases covered.

Negitoro Roll

Wowee. That's height! Lotus chip and deep fried noodle flag speared atop my negitoro roll

Assorted tempura

When I contemplated the negitoro maki, oshisushi and oyster motoyaki I ordered and all the other's dishes I sampled, I'd say the salmon oshisushi was a hit but probably not my spicy tuna oshisushi. I'd go for the salmon one again.  And I generally don't order salmon sushi.  I don't even like raw salmon.  I always order tuna.  Go figure.  The tempura was a fave too.  The batter was light and the veggies were choice: specialty mushrooms (little oyster mushrooms maybe?), squash, prawns and yam were nicely fried, light and not greasy.  I enjoyed that very much. I hate it when some restos use peppers, onion or potato in tempura and so glad Kishimoto uses unique veggies in theirs.  Score. I'd order the negitoro maki again.

Oyster motoyaki

My oyster motoyaki comes with 2 oysters on the half shell for one order.  When I was trying to decide what to order I asked if Stomach would have one of the oysters.  In the process of dining, I forgot I had promised him one and had eaten both. oops.  They were smaller oysters and quite sweet.  The motoyaki sauce was similar to the one atop the salmon oshisushi and was a little spicy. I really enjoyed the motoyaki obviously.  Each oyster lay atop a bit of cooked spinach.  I'd order this one again.  I got grief from him later on about eating his but hey, he had two Asahi beers and his big ol' plate of chicken teriyaki on rice.  You snooze ya lose.

Chicken Teriyaki on Rice

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Basho Cafe & Sweets, Vancouver

Matcha Latte Afternoon Tea special ($5)

Upon entering Basho Cafe on East Hastings (my old teenage stomping grounds!) you are immediately taken aback by the fine details evident in the decor and the food.  By gosh, even the door handle at the front has a knitted warmer wrapped around it!

Hand knitted succulent cozy. Details, people!

Down to the handcrafted pottery and dishes, the reclaimed, handmade furniture, the retro trays, hand sewn coasters and placemats I am oh so impressed.  The family that runs this cafe is very much detail-oriented and passionate about what they do.

Matcha Latte

The cafe is extaordinarily tiny and some patrons pretty much squat there with an open laptop while sipping their matcha lattes and nibbling on their cookies a la Starbucks lounge.  I don't know.  I would feel awkward personally what with the huge lineups out the door to do that.  Sure, chatting and leisurely eating and drinking is apropros but alone with a laptop and all your work out? come on. You're not gonna study for hours nursing your $5 afternoon tea set are ya?  I would feel bad that the owners weren't getting enough turnover and would go out of business with you doing that, laptop-squatter.  Just sayin.

Matcha Latte & Sweets

I have already been here twice; this post consists of pics snagged on my Instagram account during a gal-pal get together and with my family.  I think this cafe is a good meet-me-for-tea-I-haven't-seen-you-in-a-while sort of place.  Because of the limited seating, large parties aren't really doable. This is a good two-person meeting venue.  Don't come here with your party of 8.  I've seen this.  It's not pretty and it's not a bubble tea joint.  My husband took off and went next door to the A&W next door because it was all too much girlie stuff.  lol.  It was too frou-frou for him here.  Not that guys can't like frou-frou. There were a few guys there eating meals.  It's just Stomach isn't into frou-frou and I was doing the frou-frou afternoon tea.  Let me know how many guys you have seen that can sit through the Secret Garden Tea Company High Tea in Kerrisdale without being highly cognizant of the fact that everyone else is female.  Bull in China Shop comes to mind.  Everything's too darned tiny, delicate and pretty for him I think.

Chocolate Chip Cookie

At Basho, you go to the counter and order your food.  Hopefully if you get there early enough, you get a table and the food is brought to you when it is ready.  This isn't Starbucks so things take a little bit more time. My matcha latte came perfectly adorned with microfoam art and accompanied by my assorted sweets.  If you purchase an afternoon tea set, you get mini sweets.  On my gal-pal visit, my afternoon matcha latte set sweets consisted of: 1/2 a madeleine, a mini brownie bite and a green tea almond cookie.

A pot of Green Tea accompanied by a green tea and almond cookie

Matcha Brownie

The sweets were very yummy and Japanese inspired.  Japanese fusion sweets I guess?  Some of the sweets were gluten free because of the use of Japanese mochiko flour.  There is also an intriguing menu of meals that I'd like to come back to try another day for lunch and dinner.

Sandwich cookie with matcha filling

So the old 'hood sure is gentrifying.  Though Penny's and On Lok are still across the street from Basho, I noticed the whole area simply looks different with the cafes and newer restaurants like the Red Wagon and Yolk's dotted around the area. This is good.  Foodie foot traffic is good.

Matcha latte art

I would totally recommend this little cafe.  I've had several girlfriends who have gone after my recommendation and loved it too.  The environment is eclectic and the food is delicious. If you love matcha lattes and Japanese inspired foods this is the place for you.  I'm a sucker for decor, environment and aesthetic.  Because of its popularity, you may be disappointed because of the long queue.  So long as you find a quiet time to visit you'll enjoy yourself.

Miso Madeleines

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Matcha Coconut Mochi (GF)

Matcha Coconut Mochi.  An excellent Japanese sweet to serve with tea or coffee.

Summer's here and I have the kids full-time.   Aside from locking them out of the house once because they were fighting, I think I've been able to keep them busy enough to stay out of trouble.



Locked out? Bad mommy! haha.  I told them that they were to stay outside until I heard them having fun.  Eventually, I let them in after I noticed they were playing badminton in the back yard together.  I think they had forgotten what the argument was about by that time too.

The 7 yr old is always wanting to do baking.  In particular, she's really into the mixing part.  Unfortunately regular cake recipes are too difficult for her but this Matcha Mochi is perfect.  Without any gluten to develop, there is no danger of overmixing.  If you are not familiar with Mochi, it's a Japanese sweet made of sweet rice flour (glutinous rice flour).  Glutinous rice flour is a misnomer because in fact there is no gluten in it.  The term describes the texture that results when you cook with it.  It's sticky and chewy and quite dense.  You can use either the Chinese sweet rice flour, which is substantially cheaper, or the Japanese kind.  I used a whole box of "Mochiko" Japanese sweet rice flour.

In the end, I had to actually help her a bit with the mixing because there were big pockets at the bottom of the bowl that hadn't been incorporated.  All was well, albeit lumpy as the coconut sugar seemed to stay in little clumps.  I smushed those as best I could and the resulting "cake" was perfectly smooth.  No lumps.

For those people who want a stronger matcha flavour, just double the matcha powder.  This matcha mochi dessert is actually not as sweet as others because I used some coconut sugar.  If you'd like it sweeter, just use straight cane sugar.   The lovely subtle coconut flavour comes from coconut milk.  If you want to dust the top with more matcha you can do that too.

So the kids made this dessert all by themselves from prepping, to measuring and baking and washing.  I even taught my 11 yr old how to properly take out the hot pan from the oven and where to place it to cool without burning herself or my counter.  You'd think that it was obvious, but really this should be directly taught.  This little baking exercise was fun and they were very proud of their cake.  The bonus for me was it was gluten free so I had a piece too.  Very yummy!

COCONUT MATCHA MOCHI CAKES
1 16 oz box Mochiko flour [I used Blue Star brand]
1 cup organic cane sugar
1 1/2 cups organic coconut sugar
2 tablespoons matcha powder
2 tsp baking powder
1 12-oz can Evaporated milk
1 14-oz can Coconut milk
3 eggs
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 stick butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Spray a pyrex pan (13 x 9 x 2") pan with coconut spray.
2.  In a large bowl, sift together mochiko flour, sugars, baking powder and matcha.  Mix well.
3.  In a separate bowl, combine the evaporated milk coconut milk, eggs and vanilla and mix well.
4.  Pour into the prepared pan
5.  Bake for 50-60 minutes or until golden brown.
6.  Cool to room temperature before cutting.

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SUIKA, JAPANESE IZAKAYA RESTAURANT

Deluxe Suika Box:  Suika’s Appetizer sampler box.

Yes, it was very good…and appetizing!  I had  to order the sampler because I love variety!  The portion sizes were not too bad...served in little sake cups in a lacquer box. It was a gorgeous presentation.

Negitoro sashimi appetizer.  Lots of fresh tuna in a delicious sauce; topped with scallions. 

Chicken karaage.  Crispy nicely fried moist boneless chicken. 

Corn Kakiage:  like a corn tempura.  My favourite dish of the night! Fresh niblets lightly battered and nicely seasoned...they were so addictive!

Beef Filet fried rice with garlic.  Crispy fried garlic slices and tenderloin beef chunks! yum!

Oxtail ramen:  my girl loves ramen.  The broth is super rich.  Definitely nice beefy flavour with chunks of meat throughout.

Matcha Creme Brulee.  This is not like a real creme brulee in that it is frozen.  It’s like matcha ice cream in texture but cut into it with a spoon...and it's hard because it's frozen!   It tastes like matcha creme brulee.  Neat! The crunchy brulee is caramelized sugar and there’s a dusting of matcha on the plate.

Pumpkin creme brulee…a seasonal dessert in a tiny single-serving size.

Creamy, pumpkin-y, yummy!

We each had a complimentary frozen grape at the end.  The girls scarfed their two grapes down before I could get a shot of all the grapes.  Something so simple can be so refreshing!

The bottle chandelier.  Cool!

Service was attentive and the atmosphere really neat.  The colours were dark and decor was modern and funky.  I loved the attention to presentation of the food. I also enjoyed trying all the different menu items and look forward to coming back to try other dishes...like the Chinese poutine.  I wasn't in the mood for fusion tonight; maybe next time!
 

Suika is located on W. Broadway.  There is plenty of metered parking out front. 

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HOSHI SUSHI, KITSILANO

Spicy Tuna Sashimi            Rating:  5/6




California Roll, Negitoro Roll, Crab Cake nigiri                        Rating: 5/6


Gyoza.  Not so tasty.  Pasty filling.            3/6 


Golden Dragon Roll.  California Roll topped with Tempura Yam.  Yum  6/6


Here’s the pic showing the whole order of the Specialty Dragon Roll.


Chicken Karaage.  Wings (there were two more pieces but I couldn’t snap the pic in time).  5/6


Beef Udon.     Good tender pieces of meat.  5/6


Oyster Motoyaki.  Creamy with sliced mushrooms.  Rating:  5/6

Hoshi Sushi is a little restaurant with very narrow booths.  Despite being squished, I quite enjoyed my meal.  There seemed to be a  lot of takeout orders lined up and the kitchen was hopping busy.  The one waitress was running around tending to the phone, the restaurant customers' orders and the takeouts.  She was fast and did her best.  I have no complaints.   I think I heard some Cantonese in the kitchen? perhaps the cook back there?  I don't know about the sushi chef.  Anyway, the food was good.  The sushi was tasty and I was pleasantly surprised.   We will be back another time when we're in the neighbourhood.

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